Members in order from left to right: Masayuki Suzuki, Masayoshi Yamashita, Minoru Niihara, and Akira Takasaki.

Loudness was formed in 1981 by Akira Takasaki, Munetaka Higuchi, and Hiroyuki Tanaka who were transitioning from rock band Lazy to trying their hand at a heavy metal band, unhappy with the musical direction of Lazy. Shortly after formation however Tanaka quit the ...